Commonwealth Winter Games
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The Commonwealth Winter Games was a multi-sport event comprising winter sports, last held in 1970. Four editions of the Games were staged. The Winter Games were designed as a counterbalance to the Commonwealth Games, which focuses on summer sports, to accompany the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympic Games.
History
The Winter Games were founded by T.D. Richardson.[1] The 1958 Commonwealth Winter Games[2] were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland.[3] This was the inaugural games for the winter edition.[1] The 1962 Games were also held in St. Moritz, complementing the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia,[4] and the 1966 event was held in St. Moritz as well,[5] following the 1970 games,[6] the idea was discontinued.
A scheme for organising the games was drawn up at the Commonwealth Games Federation 1959, where it was decided these would be recognised as "associated games" and be held in Europe to increase the number of competitors and to reduce costs - with many of the lead skaters and skiers already taking part in the European championships at this time.[7]
A Winter Games was proposed for 2010 in India, complementing the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. The proposed venue was Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir,[8] where the Indian National Winter Games had previously been held,[9] but the idea did not come to fruition.
List of Commonwealth Winter Games
| Edition | Year | Location |
|---|---|---|
| I | 1958 | St. Moritz, Switzerland |
| II | 1962 | St. Moritz, Switzerland |
| III | 1966 | St. Moritz, Switzerland |
| IV | 1970 | St. Moritz, Switzerland |
Overall Medal Table
Note: records kept from the time are sparse, with many planned events returning no result. The reported results are confirmed and validated. Where a partial result is returned, the medal table reflects confirmed medals but doesn't record any missing medals.[10]
| Nations | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 20 | 19 | 21 |
| Canada | 10 | 6 | 6 |
| Scotland | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| New Zealand | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Australia | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Wales | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Malta | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| NIR | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Pakistan | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | 38 | 35 |
1958 Commonwealth Winter Games
The games were first discussed at the Commonwealth Games Federation General Assembly on December 2, 1956. The games took place between the 9th January 1958 to 19th January 1958.
Competing Nations: Competitors came from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Hong Kong, Nigeria and Pakistan.[11]
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
| January 1958 | 09 Thu |
10 Fri |
11 Sat |
12 Sun |
13 Mon |
14 Tue |
15 Wed |
16 Thu |
17 Fri |
18 Sat |
19 Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Skiing | 3 | ||||||||||
| Bobsleigh | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | |||||||
| Figure Skating | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Skeleton (sport) | ● | 1 | |||||||||
| Daily medal events | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Cumulative total | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| January 1958 | 09 Thu |
10 Fri |
11 Sat |
12 Sun |
13 Mon |
14 Tue |
15 Wed |
16 Thu |
17 Fri |
18 Sat |
19 Sun |
| Sport | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Downhill | John Semmelink | Shaun Fripp | Jim Quarles |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Slalom | John Platt | Arnold Midgley | John Semmelink |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Combined | John Semmelink | Arnold Midgley | John Platt |
| Bobsleigh | 2 man | Stuart Parkinson/Chris Williams | Henry Taylor/Robin Dixon | John Wodehouse/Mike Holliday |
| Bobsleigh | 4 man | Norman Barclay/Chris Skinner/Peter Forsdyke/R.Dickson | Stuart Parkinson/Tony Nash/A.Dawes/Chris Williams | UNKNOWN |
| Figure Skating | Men's Singles | Bill Cherrell | David Clements | UNKNOWN |
| Figure Skating | Women's Singles | Anne Reynolds | Doreen Denny | Mildred Atherley |
| Skeleton | Men's Singles | Colin Mitchell | Tony Claridge | Dare Wilson |
1962 Commonwealth Winter Games
The games once again took place in St Moritz, to attract the maximum number of skaters and skiers from the European tour. The games took place between the 16th January 1962 and 4th February 1962.
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
| January 1962 | 16 Tue |
17 Wed |
18 Thu |
19 Fri |
20 Sat |
21 Sun |
22 Mon |
23 Tue |
24 Wed |
25 Thu |
26 Fri |
27 Sat |
28 Sun |
29 Mon |
30 Tue |
31 Wed |
1 Thu |
2 Fri |
3 Sat |
4 Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Skiing | 3 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bobsleigh | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Cross Country | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Figure Skating | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Skeleton (sport) | ● | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Daily medal events | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Cumulative total | 3 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 14 |
| January 1962 | 16 Tue |
17 Wed |
18 Thu |
19 Fri |
20 Sat |
21 Sun |
22 Mon |
23 Tue |
24 Wed |
25 Thu |
26 Fri |
27 Sat |
28 Sun |
29 Mon |
30 Tue |
31 Wed |
1 Thu |
2 Fri |
3 Sat |
4 Sun |
| Sport | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Downhill | Lyn Cullis | Renauld Argouin | Richard Hampton |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Team Downhill | Lyn Cullis/Russell Legare | Piers, Baron de Westenholz /Charles, Count de Westenholz /Richard Salm | Ian McCormick/J. Spencer/ UNKNOWN |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Slalom | Lyn Cullis | Russell Legare | Richard Hampton |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Team Slalom | Piers, Baron de Westenholz /Charles, Count de Westenholz /Richard Salm | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Combined | Lyn Cullis | Richard Hampton | Renauld Argouin |
| Alpine Skiing | Women's Downhill | Anna Asheshov | Gina Hathorn | Tessa Dredge |
| Alpine Skiing | Women's Slalom | Gina Hathorn | Penelope Walker | Diana Tomkinson |
| Alpine Skiing | Women's Combined | Gina Hathorn | Diana Tomkinson | Penelope Walker |
| Bobsleigh | 2 man | Tony Nash/Guy Renwick | W.Walker/D.Willoughby | David Evans/MS Boyle |
| Bobsleigh | 4 man | Robin Seel / M. F. Gordon / P. Levesque / David Hobart | Bill McCowen / P. Martin / Rupert Lycett-Green / Andrew Hedges | UNKNOWN |
| Cross Country | Men's 15K Classical | John Moore | John Dent | Ralph Walker |
| Figure Skating | Men's Singles | Malcolm Cannon | Hywel Evans | Alan Potter |
| Figure Skating | Women's Singles | Jacqueline Harbord | Heather Moir | Wendy Paton |
| Skeleton | Men's Singles | Colin Mitchell | LA Boyer | FCE Fishbourne |
1966 Commonwealth Winter Games
The third edition also took place in St Moritz. The games took place between the 26th January 1966 and 11th February 1966.
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
| January 1966 | 26 Wed |
27 Thu |
28 Fri |
29 Sat |
30 Sun |
31 Mon |
1 Tue |
2 Wed |
3 Thu |
4 Fri |
5 Sat |
6 Sun |
7 Mon |
8 Tue |
9 Wed |
10 Thu |
11 Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Skiing | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
| Bobsleigh | ● | 1 | ● | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Curling | ● | ● | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Figure Skating | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Skeleton (sport) | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Daily medal events | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Cumulative total | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| January 1962 | 26 Wed |
27 Thu |
28 Fri |
29 Sat |
30 Sun |
31 Mon |
1 Tue |
2 Wed |
3 Thu |
4 Fri |
5 Sat |
6 Sun |
7 Mon |
8 Tue |
9 Wed |
10 Thu |
11 Fri |
| Sport | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Downhill | David Freeth | Peter Norman | David Borradaile |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Slalom | Peter Norman | Peter Goldstern | Guy Whitley |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Combined | Peter Norman | Peter Goldstern | Guy Whitley |
| Alpine Skiing | Women's Downhill | Anne Reid | Mary Kerr | Kathy Guy |
| Alpine Slalom | Women's Downhill | Gina Hathorn | Anna Reid | Kathy Guy |
| Alpine Skiing | Women's Combined | Anne Reid | Kathy Guy | Carol Lowry |
| Bobsleigh | 2 man | Tony Nash/Guy Renwick | John Lewis/Stephen Daniel | John Blockey/Mike Freeman |
| Bobsleigh | 4 man | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN |
| Curling | Men's Team | Wing Commander George Robertson, Joe Zedan, Ron Found and Scotty Miller | Bill Black, Davie Kennedy, Jock Marr and Jim Adams | Dan Kerr and unlisted team |
| Figure Skating | Men's Singles | Harold Williams | Michael Edmonds | Alan Williamson |
| Figure Skating | Women's Singles | Diana Clifton-Peach | Sally-Anne Stapleford | Patricia Dodd |
| Skeleton | Men's Singles | Colin Mitchell | Michael Thomson | BAT Jennings |
1970 Commonwealth Winter Games
The 1970 games marked a vastly reduced and last-ditch Winter Games. With the passing of Tyke Richardson in January 1971, the games sadly lost momentum and faded out of consciousness. [12]
The final edition took place between the 21st December 1970 and the 23rd December 1970.
| OC | Opening ceremony | ● | Event competitions | 1 | Event finals | CC | Closing ceremony |
| December 1970 | 21 Mon |
22 Tue |
23 Wed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Skiing | 2 | 2 | |
| Daily medal events | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Cumulative total | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| December 1970 | 21 Mon |
22 Tue |
23 Wed |
| Sport | Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Slalom | Aidan Ballantyne | Royston Varley | Chris Wormersley |
| Alpine Skiing | Men's Giant Slalom | Royston Varley | Aidan Ballantyne | Iain Finlayson |
| Alpine Skiing | Women's Slalom | Carol Blackwood | Antoinette Betts | Helen Carmichael |
| Alpine Skiing | Women's Giant Slalom | Carol Blackwood | Helen Jamieson | Antoinette Betts |
See also
References
- ^ a b Semanticus.info, T.D. Richardson Archived 2014-07-26 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 7 July 2012)
- ^ CBC News, Canadian Ski Museum in trouble, 15 March 2011, Ashley Burke (accessed 7 July 2012)
- ^ NZ Collector Services St. Moritz 1958 Commonwealth Winter Games silver medal Archived 2017-04-16 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 7 July 2012)
- ^ Biography of Christine Smith at sports-reference.com
- ^ Antiques Reporter AU, St. Mortiz 1966 Commonwealth Winter Games bronze medal (accessed 7 July 2012)
- ^ Cowan, Bob (2018-09-04). "Curling History: How Scotland Fared at the Commonwealth Winter Games". Curling History. Retrieved 2026-03-09.
- ^ Duncan, K.S. (16 December 1958). "Minutes of Meeting of the Advisory Committee at the Over-seas League on Monday 6th July 1959". British Empire and Commonwealth Games Federation. 1 (1): Appendix A.
- ^ "Artificial snow to extend winter games season in Gulmarg". Hindustan Times. 25 February 2007.
- ^ "2010 Commonwealth winter sports to be held in Kashmir: Azad". Press Trust of India. 6 January 2006.
- ^ https://intersportstats.com/competition_types/553
- ^ https://cabinetroom.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/the-commonwealth-winter-games/
- ^ "The Commonwealth Games Federation". Commonwealth Sport.